


A Warrior Taken

by StariWolfe



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, Rescue Mission, Serious Injuries, Torture, guess who gets to be a knight in shining armor, injuries, it's for violence, literally!, the mature isnt for sexual stuff, the warning and the rating are to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28300578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StariWolfe/pseuds/StariWolfe
Summary: Vesper is hunting a mark when she gets kidnapped by a group of imperials. Aymeric rallies her friends to go and assist her, while wreaking havoc on the ones who took her.
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 16





	1. Captured

**Author's Note:**

> Minor trigger warning, there are some depictions of violence in this. The tag and rating are to make sure that I don't get in any trouble, though I don't think it's too bad? The mature rating isn't for sexual content, it's for the violence.

It should have been a normal day for Vesper. It really should have been. Head to Ishgard, grab a mark bill, take out the mark, head back to get her rewards before heading home and getting some well-deserved rest. It _should_ have been normal.

But, as she knew well, as a notorious hero with a bullseye on her back, it was never a normal day.

She’d been tracking her mark in Azys Lla, somewhere in the Gamma Quadrant. It was some type of automata, a relic from the days of Allag, and even though she was sure she could take down a B rank mark, she was having trouble locating it. The Delta Quadrant was barren, as well, as she had looked for this machine there with no luck. 

Footsteps in the cave she was in distracted her, and she quickly darted behind some rocks to view whatever creature caused the sounds. Walking out from one of the other caverns, her mark made its appearance, sweeping its gaze over the cave. This was her chance! She readied her bow, aiming for the beast to take it down with one quick shot…

...when she got tackled from behind by a group of ambushers.

For once, she hadn’t been using her Echo’s ability to sense people around her, and she was so focused on her mark that she didn’t hear the other footsteps in the cavern. Speaking of her mark, the beast had heard the commotion and dashed away- so much for a normal day.

“Well, well, boys! What do we have here? I didn’t expect such a prize to waltz right into our lap!” A wince came to her face as an imperial captain, she assumed, pointed a gun in her face and his underlings pinned her to the ground, using metal cuffs to secure her arms behind her back. These guys certainly weren’t gentle, not that she expected them to be.

“Call me a prize again and ye’ll be missin’ a few fingers.” Struggling, Vesper tried to free herself from her captors, but the cuffs on her wrists held tight.

“Oh, but you are a prize, savage! You’re exactly the prize we’ve been looking for, in fact, and I’m sure you’ll be worth a pretty penny to either side of the civil war when we’re done with you.” Forcefully, the imperials brought her to her feet, holding her arms to prevent her from running. The one who had been speaking, who she identified as the leader based on the extravagant armor, grabbed her chin in his hand and turned her head this way and that. “And you’re such a pretty thing, too; a prize, indeed!”

“You’ll be regrettin’ tryin’ to hold onta me, rat.” Using what freedom she had, her leg swiftly kicked out, catching the leader right in the groin. She couldn’t help but smirk as he crumpled in pain, and she once again tried to free herself, but to no avail.

“Oh, you’ll pay for that, wench!” His hand flashed out and painfully made contact with her face, causing her to cry out, a trickle of blood sprouting from her lip. “You won’t be laughing when you see what we have planned for you. Bring her back, none too gently! And don’t be afraid to cripple her! It’d teach the savage some lessons.” She began to fight against her bonds and the men holding her again, determined to give the imperials as good as they gave her.

“On the contrary! I’ll laugh at anythin’ that causes you pain, little rat!” It was taking four men to drag her forth, but drag her forth they did, out of the Gamma Quadrant and towards the imperial base in the area.

Fortunately, Vesper wasn’t the only one hunting in Azys Lla that day. Another hunter, one that knew of her and her deeds, happened to follow the sounds of conflict and witnessed what had happened. They dared not interfere; if they could subdue a Warrior of Light, they had no chance of rescuing her. They went for the next best option: hightail it back to the Holy See, and inform the Scions and the Temple Knights of what had transpired. They’d know what to do.

\---

Aymeric was in the middle of paperwork when Lemon and Ellywen burst into his office, sending the doors flying off of their hinges.

“Aymeric! It’s horrible! They’re gonna do terrible things to her, I know it! We have to do something!” The Au Ra was in an absolute panic, running to and fro as she rambled nonsensically. Aymeric thought he saw tears running down her face. “We have to go now! If we don’t, she’ll be-”

“Lemon, breathe! What in the world has you so panicked?” He put his papers aside and stood, watching Lemon stand in the middle of the room, still crying and very clearly distressed. “Ellywen, you too. Start from the beginning: what’s wrong?”

“It’s Vesper.” The Lord Commander looked over the Au Ra to see the other Scions, led by Nocte, walk into his office. It was Nocte who had spoken, calmly yet clearly agitated, if her body language was any indication. After hearing his dear friend’s name, he was instantly alert.

“Vesper? What’s happened?”

“We got word from a hunter in Azys Lla that she’s been kidnapped by Imperials.” Alphinaud spoke now, his face the perfect picture of composure, but his voice was wavering. Aymeric felt his heart begin to race. Vesper, caught by imperials? “She was hunting when a patrol decided to stalk and attack her. They drug her off towards the imperial castrum, even though we thought it was abandoned. We don’t know anything beyond that.”

“Which is why we should be leaving by now! We have to go help her!” Alisaie never was one for mincing words. “Who knows what they’re going to do to her? We already know that she’s hated there, and for all we know, with their technology…”

“And yet, rushing in with no plan may very well make things worse for her.” Y’shtola spoke up, ever the voice of reason. “Which is why we came here, Aymeric. We knew you would want to know, and you have the resources and strategic abilities to assist us, if you’d be willing to help.”

The beat of his heart was pounding in his ears. Vesper, taken by imperials, who very much wanted her out of their way… What if they killed her? Or tortured her for information? His mind drifted back to when he was taken in by the Heavensward. 

He would _not_ let something so horrible happen to Vesper.

“Willing to help? You would be hard-pressed to prevent me from helping, and I already have ideas.” His gaze swept through the room, over the Scions and the Temple Knights who had joined to see what the commotion was. “Lemon, would you please get a hold of Estinien? I doubt he’d want to miss this. You there, go fetch Lucia, as we will be needing her help. And tell her to rally Drillemont and the knights of House Fortemps. I doubt they would stand for this.”

The knights gave a quick salute before running off, and Lemon, though still very distraught, was on her linkpearl and talking to who he assumed was Estinien. The other Scions were discussing how to proceed amongst themselves, and he heard them decide to call in Cid for his airship and magitek expertise and Krile for her healing abilities.

They would not let the imperials have her.

\---

Vesper and her imperial entourage had arrived at the castrum.

She had fought, kicked, struggled, and bitten the entire time they pulled her there, but eventually, the imperials had won out. They had wrapped ropes around her body to prevent her from attacking them, as well as slapping, punching, and kicking her as she gave them trouble, and dragged her the rest of the way to the base. Pulling against her bonds, she gave them as much trouble as she could as they brought her into the castrum. They cast her to the floor, and she fell hard on her side, landing on her arm in the process, creating an immense amount of pain on top of her already sore injuries.

“Look here, oh great Warrior! Fought as you did, you still ended up in our lap! That must sting, being unable to fight your way out of your binds!” The leader kicked her squarely in the ribs, causing her to gasp in pain and cough up blood onto the floor. “Oh, I’m sorry, your bumps and bruises must hurt _so_ much more! But you know,” he knelt to the floor and lifted her head with his hand, forcing her to look at him, “You wouldn’t be in so much pain if you had come quietly!” Removing his hand quickly, her head dropped to the floor with a _thunk_ , causing her to see stars.

“Oh, my little rat… any pain I feel… is worth it to see… how you squirm when you get hurt…” She lifted her head as much as she could without throwing up. “... I can handle pain… much better than you can… if what I saw was any… indication.” Her snicker rang out as his face went red with rage. If he had gotten so much as a cut on the way back, he’d made such a fuss to his subordinates. How in the world he’d risen to a leader was beyond her; anyone that weak would normally not be anywhere near the running.

Her cries of pain increased when he kicked her again, this time in the stomach. More blood came out of her mouth, making her taste metal and release small whimpers of pain. She didn’t have to see the imperial leader to know that he was wearing a sadistic smile.

“We’ll see how snarky you are when we’re done with our work. Tell me,” squatting back down to her level, he grabbed her hair this time to make her look at him. “Your Echo is quite unique, isn’t it? The ability to not only see into the past, but sense people around you, and even identify them! Although, that didn’t help you today, did it?” He released her, paying no heed to the gasp of pain as she hit the floor again. “So tell me, Warrior of Light,”

Looking up as much as her pain would allow, she saw what was behind him and her heart sank, fear bubbling up in the pit of her stomach.

An Echo extraction machine, the same kind that Zenos had used to give Krile’s Echo to Fordola.

“How do you think your Echo will work with our soldiers? Your power to sense people’s presence will doubtless give us an edge in combat. I can see those in power paying us a pretty penny for such services.” There was no allowance for an answer as the underlings grabbed her, picking her up and dragging her towards one of the capsules. She struggled weakly, her wounds catching up to her, but there was no point. “And you know what the best part is? No one is coming to save you. No one knows you’re missing.” They shoved her into the capsule, still bound, and closed the door. She was trapped.

Throwing her body against the door as best she could, Vesper fought to escape. She didn’t like being enclosed in small places and being trapped in a tiny capsule was not helping her rising panic. She threw her shoulder against the door two more times before her exhaustion got the better of her and slid down to the floor, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

She couldn’t let them get her Echo. They couldn’t turn on this machine. What would happen to Eorzea if they stole her Echo? Her friends?

… Aymeric?

There had to be some way to distract them, there had to be-

A loud crash was discernible outside of her capsule.

Seemed a distraction had arrived.

\---

The rescue crew had taken no time to arrive. And the second they did, the doors of the Castrum were knocked off of the hinges, much like Aymeric’s office door.

Aymeric, Nocte, Ellywen, Estinien, and Lemon were the vanguard of the rescue, and they stormed through the doors with gusto, cutting down any imperial that dared cross their path. They were closely followed by Lucia and the Temple Knights who fanned out and took any remaining soldiers into custody or, if they resisted, took them to the grave. The Scions moved in after most of the imperials in the forward area had been dealt with, moving around and disabling any traps or alarms, looking for signs of their friend.

Aymeric grabbed an imperial that stood shaking in his way, picking him up by the collar.

“Tell me where they took the Warrior of Light and leave here with your life.”

“T-They took her to the chamber in the back! With the machine that can take someone’s Echo-”

Oh no.

“Take someone’s Echo? Like they did with Krile?” Lemon’s voice began shaking; this was not good. Aymeric turned back to the imperial that looked as if he was soiling himself.

“How do we get there? And how many of you are there?”

“J-Just go to the back door, there! There’s about seven, including the commander-” The soldier yelped as Aymeric threw him to the side, signaling to Lucia to take care of him. The Temple Knights and Lucia could take care of the remaining imperials here, so the vanguard and the Scions moved to the indicated door. With one nod to Lemon, Aymeric signaled her to bash the door in.

And bash it in she did.

The doors to the back chamber crumpled under the Au Ra’s onslaught, sending them crashing to the floor and catching the kidnappers by surprise. It was clear as day that the commanding officer wasn’t expecting anyone to come crashing in, and yet he tried to play it cool.

“Well well, if it isn’t the rest of the great Scions and the Lord Commander of the Holy See himself! What other prizes will-” He didn’t finish his sentence before Aymeric grabbed him and slammed him against a wall, sword at his throat.

“Where is she!?” He felt grim satisfaction in his gut as the leader shriveled up before, revealing that he was just a coward who managed to get lucky.

Vesper heard him from inside of the capsule. In her haze of pain, it took her a moment to realize it was him, but the second she did her spirit soared. With what strength she could muster, she focused on one shout.

“Aymeric! I’m in here!” She fell back against the capsule wall, her energy spent. She had to stay conscious, she had to…

The door of the capsule began to shake and shudder, and finally, it opened, revealing Aymeric, ready to rescue her out of this hell.

And the momemt Aymeric saw her, broken and bruised and bleeding, and his heart broke in two. He took her into his arms and laid her down on the floor so Krile and Alphinaud could work their healing magicks. A scowl came to his handsome face; they’d pay for this.

“I’ve… ne’er been… more grateful… to see you, mate.” Vesper managed to gasp out as she laid prone on the floor. It was true, and that was saying something.

“Do not talk, Vesper. Save what strength you have.” As Alphie and Krile worked on healing what wounds they could, Aymeric began undoing her binds, removing all but the cuffs around her wrists. Those required a key. He stood back up and walked back to the imperial commander, who Lucia had bound in chains and was awaiting further orders.

“Where are the keys to the cuffs?” Aymeric’s voice was commanding, and the imperial leader shrunk away from the angry commander.

“M-My back pocket! P-Please, don’t hurt me…” He was shaking with fear, even after Aymeric had retrieved the key to Vesper’s cuffs. 

“That is not for me to decide. You will be subjected to the Warrior of Light’s judgment, not mine.” The Lord Commander had no patience for this man anymore; if it was up to him, the bastard would be dead already. But it was Vesper who had received the man’s force; it was only right to give the decision to her. He went back to her and removed the cuffs from her, his heart breaking again as he saw the raw red marks that adorned her wrists. “How is she?”

“Bad, but not fatal. She should make a full recovery.” Krile brought her hands away from Vesper’s body, clearly tired from healing her. “She’ll need a lot of rest, however, and probably shouldn’t be out and about for a few weeks.”

“We’ve done what we can with our magic. The rest will need a chirurgeon’s help.” Alphinaud also withdrew his healing hands from the injured rogue. “She seems to have a few broken bones and some internal bleeding; we’ve stemmed the worst of it but she will need a stint for her arm and other medical treatment.” Aymeric felt the rage rising within him again. How dare they-

“Where’s the leader?” All three started as Vesper spoke up, struggling to rise from her position. Aymeric put an arm around her shoulders as she stood, pointing to where the leader was bound with his other hand. “Can I borrow your sword, please?” Wordlessly, he passed it to her. It seemed as if the healing that the other two had given her had worked well enough that she could stay up for a little bit, at least.

Vesper limped over to where the imperial leader was bound in chains next to Lucia, staring at him with unabashed hatred. Aymeric signaled Lucia to back away for a moment, allowing Vesper to take whatever revenge she desired.

“Well, me little rat, the tables have turned, haven’t they?” The leader began to back away in fear as Vesper began her advance, limping towards him in a way that unsettled everyone in the room. “You kidnapped me as a Warrior of Light. Did you know that before I was an adventurer, I was a pirate? Oh, yes, I was feared far an’ wide, and word of my deeds even reached Limsa Lominsa. They called me Astra Mare, they did.” The man’s eyes grew wide in horror, falling to the floor in his panic, still trying to back away. “Oh, you know that name, do ye? Ye’ve heard the rumors then. Shall I tell you a story? How ‘bout the time I skinned a traitor alive and kept him alive for hours after? Or mayhaps the story where I tied rocks to the throats of bastards like yaself and threw them into the sea? Maybe how I burned alive some pirates who were raidin’ a little innocent village? Oh, I made a point not to hurt any innocent folk, but…” He was backed against a wall now, “... yer not innocent, are you? Oh no, my little rat, you’re far from it, so let me ask you.” Her smile was that of nightmares as she brought up Aymeric’s sword and brought it down between his legs, barely missing his manhood. “... what fate would you prefer? I’ll let you decide. It won’t be any less fun for me.”

The imperial leader was crying at that point, clearly having heard all of the stories of her pirate days. 

“P-Please, s-spare me…” She felt grim satisfaction as the man begged for his life. She wanted to kill him, oh she wanted to kill him, however…

“Well, it’s your lucky day! I don’t like killin’ folks in cold blood, unlike you lot, so y’know what? I will spare you! Aymeric, if you would, make sure this man had the _best possible_ accommodations in the Ishgard gaols and keep him there ‘til death comes for him, if ya know what I mean.” She saw the dark look cross Aymeric’s face as he nodded. He knew exactly what she meant; give him the dankest cell possible and throw away the key.

As he walked forward to help her out of the Castrum, she felt her mind slip away as the last of her energy ran out. Her knees buckled and she tumbled towards the floor. 

The last thing she remembered was Aymeric rushing towards her and capturing her in his arms before she fully slipped into darkness.


	2. Recovery

Vesper was warm.

She didn’t remember being warm. The last thing she remembered was falling to the floor in the castrum and Aymeric catching her. So why was she warm?

… And dear gods, why was her head pounding?

Her entire body protested as she opened her eyes and tried to gather herself to get up, only to find that it felt as if her left arm was bound. Lifting her head up on her aching neck, she found that her left arm had been put in a sling, and that wasn’t the only thing. Her abdomen and ribs were wrapped in bandages which seemed to be covering some stitches, it looked like one of her legs was in a cast or at least was being kept still, and she ached _all over._

The memories came back to her as she leaned her head back to where it was, finding a soft pillow for her to lay on. Her right arm felt around, and she found clean sheets upon a comfy mattress. It took her a moment to grasp exactly where she was, but the architecture of the wooden ceiling above screamed that she was in the Ishgardian infirmary. She lifted her head once again to confirm her suspicions…

… Only to be distracted when she noticed Aymeric leaning on her bed from the bedside stool, fast asleep. At least she knew she was in Ishgard.

Her heart fluttered at his presence. If he was asleep here, surely that meant he’d been here for some time? He’d fallen asleep at his desk more than once after working hours on end on official Holy See business, and he’d only ever move once he woke up naturally or Vesper came to visit him and roused him. 

Not that she could do that now. He was leaning on the left side of her bed, the same side as her bad arm, so she couldn’t reach out to him. As she tried to find her voice, she winced in pain at the soreness of her throat; it felt as if she hadn’t used her voice in a few days. So waking him was out of the question at the moment.

And even though she desperately wanted him to rise and know she was okay, she could feel herself drifting back off again. Her head met the pillow again, and it wasn’t long before a dreamless sleep took her.

She’d talk to him later. They both needed rest. And maybe a drink once she was better.

\---

“She’s more stable now. It seems she woke sometime during the night.”

“You are sure? She was awake?”

“At some point, yes. She’s been stock still for the last few days, and yet now it’s clear the sheets have been disturbed when she checked her surroundings. She’s also sleeping much more soundly.”

...Voices? Vesper recognized Aymeric’s voice. Was the other person a chirurgeon?

“Oh, thank the Fury. So she will be fine then.”

“Yes. And we know now that she’ll recover fully. It will just take time.”

“So Vess will be okay?”... Was that Lemon? “How long do you think it will take?”

“Even with the healing magic of Ms. Ellywen, Ms. Krile, and Master Alphinaud, it will still be a few weeks.”

A few weeks!? She didn’t have that kind of time! Hoping that her voice would answer her call, she weakly tried to speak.

“... Please tell me… you said ‘two’ weeks… and not ‘a few’ weeks...” And thankfully, it worked, and, though she couldn’t see them yet, everyone in the room looked her way in surprise.

“Vesper! You’re awake!” Lemon jumped off of the table that she was sitting on and rushed to the bed, and Vesper swore she saw tears in her eyes. “When you didn’t wake for a few days, we feared the worst…”

“Hold on, a few days!? How long was I out, exactly?” Adrenaline started flowing through her body as she gained full consciousness, although that also made her much more aware of her pain.

“‘Tis been five days, my friend.” Vesper turned her gaze from Lemon’s overjoyed crying to Aymeric, who had walked to the opposite side of the bed to see her. “The chirurgeons said that the wounds you sustained were worse than we originally thought, and because you exerted so much energy fighting your captors, you slipped into a sleep where we could not wake you. We were all… very worried, to say the least.” As he spoke the last phrase, he took her good hand into his own and squeezed it, as if to make sure this wasn’t just a dream.

… Wait, speaking of her captors…

“What happened to the imperials? And that Echo machine, or whatever ‘twas called?” She really didn’t want anyone to have access to that kind of power.

“The castrum has been cleared out, and the machine destroyed thoroughly.” A new voice chimed in from across the room. Vesper looked past Lemon to see Ellywen there on a stool with Lucia standing not far from her, also looking exhausted. “If you want details, I shot a bunch of lightning through it to short the circuits, and then Lemon smashed the hell out of it! If anyone can fix that, they’re supernatural.”

“Good! Good…” The injured Warrior of Light settled her head back on the pillow, relief flooding her. “I really don’t want anyone havin’ my Echo but me. It’d be bad if any of those bloody imperials or any of our enemies got ‘hold of it.”

“Indeed. Worry not, we made sure that they had no time to steal your Echo, and the man responsible for your kidnapping is in the dankest cell Lucia could find. We shan’t have to worry about him any longer.” Vesper didn’t miss the dark look that appeared on Aymeric’s face. Not that she could blame him for it; a grim satisfaction filled her knowing the coward would live the rest of his days in a dark cell.

“Excellent. Death was much too good for ‘em. Bloody bastard.” She turned back to the chirurgeon who was present. “So, back to me earlier question. How long will I be here, exactly?”

“Quite possibly a few weeks, depending on how much you rest.” Ah. Rest. The thing she was bad at.

“Will I be able t’ move from here at all?”

“Not if you want to be out of here sooner.”

Vesper’s head fell back to the pillow in despair. This was going to be hard on her; the pain from her injuries, coupled with the inevitable stir-craze and loneliness, would undoubtedly bring her an immense amount of boredom.

“Loverly. Just loverly. This is gonna be borin’ and lonely. Just what I need.” She turned her gaze to the window in the room. That window would be the only view of the outside world she’d be getting for a while.

“We’ll get you some books from your library to keep you entertained!” Lemon jumped to her feet, eager to try and cheer up her friend.

“And we can bring you food and stories, too! I know you’ll want to hear about all of our mistakes.” Ellywen chimed in. That was a good point; whenever it came to having a brain cell, Lemon and Elly had one between them and Vesper usually babysat it, so there was bound to be some good misadventures while she recovered.

That didn’t help with the loneliness, however, and she felt her heart sink a bit. There were so many adventures waiting to be had, and she was stuck here because of her own mistakes.

So wrapped up in her thoughts as she was, Vesper didn’t notice when Lucia elbowed Aymeric in the ribs, meaningfully glancing at the prone hyur. She also didn’t notice his look of realization, and the slight smile that appeared on his face.

“... You will not be alone, my friend. I’ll stay with you until you are well once more.” Shock coursed through her body as she turned to look at him. He’ll stay with her? But his duties…

“There’s nothing currently that I cannot handle, and anything that is out of my jurisdiction I can just come and bring him what he needs.” Lucia was smiling wide. Vesper had her suspicions that she was trying to set the two up; she was aware of Vesper’s feelings for the Lord Commander.

“I won’t lie, I’ll be glad for th’ company, but are you sure? It’s gonna be boring here, and there’s not really much in terms of comfort…” She wanted him to stay, oh gods she wanted him to stay, but she didn’t want him to be bored here with her. Not to mention, even as modest as he was, an infirmary room didn’t have much in terms of luxury.

“If you’re worried about him being comfortable…” the chirurgeon spoke up now. “... we can bring an extra cot up to this room and put it on the other side of your bed. He can be comfortable while also being away from your bad arm.”

“... Can’t really argue with that.” Vesper couldn’t deny that she wanted him to stay with her, and if he was set on it, she wouldn’t deny him. “If ya’d grace me with your presence, mate, I’d be glad for it. It’ll be much less dull here with you ‘round.”

“I will stay gladly. Pray, let me return to the Borel manor to acquire sleepwear and anything else that might be needed.”

“Take a bath while you’re at it, Commander. You’ll both be much happier if you’re clean.” Lucia spoke again, sending a pointed look at said commander. A blush blossomed on Aymeric’s face as he gazed at the floor, and Vesper couldn’t help but wonder again.

How long had he stayed with her while she was unconscious?

“Don’t worry, Aymeric, we’ll keep her company until you get back!” Lemon made a point to go and sit on the side of the bed near Vesper, ready to keep her safe until Aymeric returned.

“I’m sure you will. I shan’t be overlong, so please keep her entertained until my return.” Aymeric graced them all with a bow, and sent a smile at Vesper, before walking out of the room. Once he was gone, Lucia turned her attention to the rogue.

“He told me not to tell you this whenever you woke up, but I think you should know, Vesper.” A smile came to Lucia’s face as curiosity came to Vesper. “He has only left your side to use the latrine. He’s stayed here for five days watching over you, and he carried you all the way back to Ishgard. But this also means he hasn’t bathed, so if he still hasn’t taken a bath, make sure he does when he gets back for me.” Heat rose to the hyur’s face, and she knew everyone could see it. But she couldn’t help it.

Five days he had stayed with her.

“Bless him. Gods, bless that man.” She laid back down again, uncaring about the blush still on her face. “He’s far too good for this world, and far too good t’ me.”

“Someone needs to be good to you.” Ellywen piped up from her position on the stool, putting down the newspaper she had picked up at some point. “How badly have you been treated before? And I’m not just talking about the kidnapping that just happened.”

“Let’s talk about somethin’ else, I’m in too much pain for that convo right now.” Not the most graceful topic change, but she’d rather not talk about past experiences like that right now, romantic or otherwise. The chirurgeons brought up a spare cot and placed it to the right of Vesper’s bed, the two mattresses touching, and the four women present continued to talk about this or that for the time Aymeric was absent.

“So let me get this straight. Lemon nearly jumped off of the cliffs in the Churning Mists? Intentionally? And more than once?” Lucia was very clearly amazed at this information, and Vesper and Ellywen were giggling uncontrollably as Lemon went red as a rose.

“I wanted to see where Zenith connected with the ground! I’m a dragoon, I can handle falling from high places!”

“Not THAT high, ya dumbass!” Laughing hurt Vesper’s chest a bit, but the chirurgeons had assured her she was in no danger of literally dying of laughter. “Yes, you can jump from th’ top of Kugane Tower and not get hurt, but that don’t mean ya can take jumpin’ off a mountain, ya dingus!”

“I see I’ve missed a bit in my absence.” The women in the room turned to see Aymeric standing in the doorway, a bag of what was presumably clothing at his side and dressed in simple nightwear. Vesper dearly hoped that he changed after he got back to the building and didn’t walk here in just a white shirt and trousers.

Before anyone spoke another word, Lucia walked over to him and looked the elezen up and down thoroughly. Seemingly satisfied, she turned back to the others and nodded.

“Alright, he’s clean. He can stay.” At her declaration, Aymeric’s jaw dropped as a blush spread like fire across his face and Vesper and company descended into giggles. “With that, I’ll tend to the duties that need to be dealt with. Keep her company, Commander.” Lucia walked out of the room and down the hall. The Lord Commander managed to get his blush under control before crossing the room and sitting down on the bed next to Vesper’s.

“I should probably head out, too. Estinien will want to know Vesper is okay. Plus,” Vesper swore she saw Lemon’s eyes go red, “We’ve got to keep tracking the imperials that escaped. Wouldn’t want them coming back now, would we?”

“And I’m going to head back to my apartment. I’m ready to sleep for like five days…”

“I’ve slept for five days before. Quite recently, in fact. It’s not as pleasant as ya think.”

“You were unconscious, Vesper, that’s not sleeping.” Elly sassed back at Vesper with her hands on her hips. “Anyway, I’ll walk with you, Lemon. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Vesper wanted to wipe the smirk off of the black mage’s face as she and Lemon walked out of the room, leaving her and Aymeric alone.

“They seem cheery after knowing you are alright. Our friends love you dearly, Vesper.” Aymeric turned and looked at her softly from his side of the beds. 

“Ya’d think so, but you’ve not seen them, or rather Lemon, grab me by the limbs an’ toss me in the pools near our company house. They’ve done that and similar multiple times.” She turned her eyes to him as he moved to lay down, adjusting the sheets and making himself comfortable. He chuckled as she finished her small story.

“I would like to see that one day. But truly, they were incredibly worried about you. There was not a day that you were here that they did not come and watch over you.” For the umpteenth time that day, Vesper’s head hit her pillow as she took in that information. Her hand brushed her bangs out of the way as she processed what Aymeric had said.

“... They’re far too good t’ me. Everyone is far too good t’ me.” 

“Considering what happened five days prior, I would say people are not nearly good enough to you.” A dark look crossed his face as he recalled her kidnapping. “By the way, I must ask you something. Those threats that you directed towards the castrum leader… were they true? Did you really do all of those things when you were a pirate?” He must have noticed Vesper’s surprised look at his question. “Forgive me if I’ve brought back painful memories, you needn’t answer that. I must admit curiosity, however.

Vesper looked at him and his embarrassment a moment longer before beginning to chuckle.

“Honestly? Nah, I didn’t. I _was_ Astra Mare, but I stole most o’ those lines from some books I really like.” Her eyes went back to the ceiling. “I _will_ admit, however, that I’ve done...a lot o’ things that I’m not proud of, and I’m not proud of my past. ‘Twasn’t always a goody-good Warrior o’ Light. It’s amazin’ t’ me that folks even tolerate me nowadays.”

“You are too harsh to yourself, Vesper.” Vesper’s gasp was soft as Aymeric reached over to envelope her good hand within his. “We have all done things that we look back upon and regret, myself included. Your regrets may be more than others, but that doesn’t change how much good you’ve done, and how much you will do.” She paused to look back at him and their entwined hands before chuckling again.

“Sorry, mate, sorry. I don’t mean t’ laugh, but… that’s real similar to what I told meself when I left the pirate life behind. I told meself ‘I can’t change who I was, but I can change who I’ll be.’ And, surprisingly, it worked. And here I am now!” Ostentatiously, she rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “In an infirmary bed after my own mistakes got me caught and tortured. Oh, the humanity!” Her companion started giggling at her proclamation. She smiled; it was getting much too serious in this conversation.

“Indeed, the humanity. However, if you do not mind me asking…” Their eyes met as he turned on his side to face her. “... Why did you become a pirate?”

“Oh, that’s a story and a half. But I guess we’ll be here for a while, so…” Adjusting herself as much as she could to make herself more comfortable, Vesper launched into her story. “So, back in my homeland, the government body was real corrupt. I joined the knights there to try and change things from the inside, because I was always told that knights were brave and true. But not th’ knights in my home. Every time I tried t’ do something against protocol to help folks, I was punished. No one would listen to me, no one would support me. Most of them only wanted to be a knight to have power over the common man. And then… it came to a head.”

Remembering her time as a knight of her homeland was taking a toll, and Vesper took a deep breath to combat the dark feelings rising within her. Aymeric must have noticed, because he scooted even closer to her and squeezed her hand.

“You do not have to continue if you do not want to, my friend, It seems painful to remember.”

“Aye, it is. But sometimes it does me some good to remember. Besides, being honest… I want ya t’ know anyway.” She shook her head as much as she could before continuing. “I broke the protocol by goin’ to protect the poorer folk during a pirate raid instead of protectin’ the rich folk, who I know now had most of the knights in their pockets. For that crime so heinous, I was tied to a stake and beaten, then left for dead. That’s actually how me left eye got injured and scarred, and the surgery to save it turned it silver. As far as I know, they told the populace that I’d abandoned them. And as I sat there, still tied to a stake and beaten within an inch o’ me life, those same pirate raiders approached me, and gave me a choice. ‘Ye’ve been wronged by the knights too. Join us and live, or stay here and die.’ Naturally, I chose to live, and they took me and tended my wounds, and I stayed with them for a long time.”

She took another deep breath before continuing, taking comfort in Aymeric’s hand holding hers.

“Those pirates weren’t bad folks, truth be told. Most of ‘em were like me; joined the knights to try and make a difference, only to get beaten into submission. But together we were stronger, and we crippled those bastards. We stopped supply lines, got the lowfolk on our sides, and we eventually managed to turn the tides against that corruption. And, slowly but surely, we finally succeeded in takin’ down the corrupt politicians and nobles, and the knights who they bribed. Actually, around the time we got our homeland back on the right path was the time when I left.”

“Oh?” Aymeric had been listening intently through the entire story, rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

“As much as I loved those lads, I never wanted to be a pirate, not truly. It was a means to an end, and a successful one. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of during that time, but I’m hoping to make up for it by makin’ the world a better place, more or less.” With the end of her story, she closed her eyes for a bit; talking so much had tired her out much more than she thought it would.

“You’ve gone above and beyond that, Vesper. You’ve done so much, and have helped so many people, myself and this city included. And you’ll continue to do more, and all of us will be by your side the entire time. Pray, do not forget that.” Her eyes opened briefly to give him a tired smile; he was too damn good to this world.

“You’d better be; it’d be real damn lonely otherwise.” It was getting to the point where she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Aymeric must have sensed this as he adjusted both of their sheets to cover the two of them more.

“Shall we sleep, then? We’ve got many and more days before you are combat ready again, and we’ll not be wanting for free time.” Vesper gave a sleepy nod, still holding his hand, before drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

So tired was Vesper that she didn’t notice Aymeric brush her bangs out of her face as she slept, or the look he gave her as he watched her chest rise and fall with her breath. She didn’t see the glisten of his eyes as he assured himself that she’d be okay, that this wasn’t a dream. And she didn’t hear when he made her a silent promise to protect her through thick and thin. All she noticed was how peaceful he looked when she woke up to see him sleeping beside her in the morning.


End file.
